The Pittsburgh Steelers made several roster moves on Monday, with the team officially announcing the signings of RB Trey Sermon and Gareth Warren, which were previously reported. The team also announced the signing of RB Max Hurleman, who tried out for the team at its rookie minicamp. The Steelers waived RB Aaron Shampklin, who was on a reserve/futures deal.
While Shampklin spent most of 2024 on the practice squad and some time on the active roster, with Pittsburgh adding two running backs from minicamp, it made sense to cut him in a room that already has Kaleb Johnson, Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell, Cordarrelle Patterson and Evan Hull.
Last season, Shampklin carried the ball six times for 17 yards in three games. He also had four kick returns for 101 yards, with a long of 32 yards.
Hurleman began his collegiate career as a running back at Colgate, but moved to receiver and later played cornerback and served as a punt returner for Notre Dame. Returner was his primary role last season for the Fighting Irish. He averaged six yards on 23 punt attempts. Hurleman checked in at 5107, 200 pounds with a 4.65 40-time at his Pro Day. He’s the third tryout player to be signed along with Warren and Sermon.
Sermon is the biggest name on the list, a fourth-year veteran who spent the last two years with the Indianapolis Colts. One of his best professional games came against Pittsburgh in Week 15 of the 2023 season, when he ran 17 times for 88 yards in a Colts victory. He was a third-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Warren will compete for a backup tackle role with the Steelers. He played his college football at Lindenwood and was an East-West Shrine Bowl participant. Our scouting report compared him to former Steelers OL Ramon Foster, and he brings good size with him at 6051 and 330 pounds with 32 1/4″ arms.
The Steelers now have 90 players on their offseason roster, but OLB Julius Welschof is an international exemption, so the team had one more open spot.
